The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-06-23
iTRisEBTlH STATISTICS n !,
HOW DANaERoUs OCCUPATIONS
KILL HeRE THAN WAX.
The sapersuOas Women are Widows
as Shewn BY the Investiga'
ten In Massachusetts,.


ia this State. An investigation OF all
the acts bearing on this social phe
nomenon reveals tragedy which may
he told in statistics. Who are these
surplue women2 Unmarried womenY
So Il has been supposed, erroneously.
7, has been assumed that they were
the NJ marritd-the maidens and
spinsters "left" in the struggle Tor
matrimonial prizes, and therefore PIE
sumsbly not the "fitteBt." But an in.
yestigation made for the APPEAL
shows that they are neither young
maidens nor spipstera, but they ware
not long ego the "fittest," the bright
est OF their sex, who early won the
love az d support Of brave young fel.
lows and are now widows. II takes
very few figures TO tell this fact in the
tragedy. The total excess OF iemaiss In
the State Is 1888, and OF this number
65,O04, or more than 80 per cent, are
widows, the total number OF widowed
men In the State being 32,l54, and OF
widowed won on 90, 1853.
1t ie not among women OF advanced
years, or even among those In middle
life, that the great excess Is found.
More than half are not yet forty and
29O04 are CT ages between twenty and
thirty. They bad but tasted OF the
happiness OF wifehood and mother
hood when they were made "supeliu-
ous." A great number Of these wo-
men are the widows of,the men whose
dIei diul deaths by 1000 forms OF mu'
tilation We read Of In our newspapers
night ard moIning-the young wage
eaTners killed In the dangerous occu-
pstioDs.
The perils OF the fisheries are a
familiar tale. Since earliest colonial
days the coast population has derived
its support mainly from the sea, and
II the down East ministers salary is
no longer paid in cod and maekerel
by weight or count II Is none the leHs
paid with cod and mackerel in al other
way. The fisherman seeH but little Of
his home. His quest takes him 100
to 1000 or more miles from
Gloucester. He enters the lit 10 dory
and, casting of from the vessel, ex.
poses himself to the full force OF the
Atlantic. With the best OF luck his
suffsriDgs are severe, and Ii 10 often
that the W rat OF luck oveTtakes him
Lost In the fog he dies in the agonies
OF starvation and thirst, and "laBt
seen on the Georges" ia the only word
that gets back to the dssolate home at
Gloucester. From 30 to 100 lives
q year are lost from vessels hailing
that single port Of Gloucester. Last
year the number was ll6.
Not 20 concentrated In one locality,
and occupation hut enormously, great
or in the aggregate ia the less of life In
the inland Industries. The network
OF railroads that covers the State Is
the great minotaur. The average
number Of accidents to railroad en-
ployes during the last ten years, 1876
10 1888, was A l per year. The aver
age number Of accidents not fatal was
$50, and large proportion OF :hese 1t
should be remembered resulted IN
premature death. The average num-
Der Of persons not employees killed
while walking or lying op the track
was 97,9 per year. An analysis Of the
latter number shows that the popu-
ular notion that track walkers are
usually drunken men or trampB Is as
mistaken as popular notions in gen.
eral. The mbjority OF them are labor
ers going to and from work by the
railroad track because II is more d.
rect than the highway.
The fatalities among men who meet
death while actually engaged In the
duties Of their calling make up a pain.
dull recon-. iiere is one case from
many in my notebook. John Gay
lord was freight brakeman. He was
"oEc OF the boys," but wsrm hearted
fellow with plenty Of good sense. An
ME Day was q comedy, stieeuonate
Uirl. whose father was an engineer on
the same road. When John was pro-
NOTED to regular post on the pat.
form OF a passenger. car oil a mixed
train and told that II he kept straight
he would be o baggage master in lew
months, he said he would keep straight
and marry Annie. He kept his word
in both particulars; but the railroad
officers did not keep theirs. John
was still on the platform OF his pas
senQer car when there were three lit
tie Gaylords Ia Armies neat kitchen
One day John was in especially good
spirits as he started of, and he looked
back and waved his dinner pail to An
ME and the three little faces ia the
doorway. The next day the train hat
covered twothirds the return triI
when the signal sounded for brakes
John sprang to his post. The brake
man on the freight car just torwar'
saw the passenger car topple to ON
aide, saw John straining at his breal
and turned away his eyes. The pas
sengers crawled out, not one badly in
iured, and the trainmen looked abou
Tor John. They found him under tn
wreck, his hands clutching the broke
brake, white, dead.
1t was nearly tea time and nearl
time for John, when Annie heard tn
newsboys crying, Last edition; a
about the accident" familiar or
that always filled her with q dreadiT
fear, In moment she had the pApe
In the blur Of head lines that swaI
before her eyes she saw only the word
",John Gaylord, Of this city, killed,
Annie is now one Of the "supeituouH
women Of Massachusetts,.
Now multiply this case OF Ami
Day by almost the number Of week
in the year, change the scenes and Ii
cidsnts in every case, and you begl
to have dim idea Of the tragedy
railroad employment in this Ett
State 30 full OF roads. Multiply
more than the number OF days in Ii
year, and remember the occupation
OF the fireman, the miner, the QUAR-,
man, the rooier, the painter, the dye
the grinder Of cutlery, and mar
more, and you begin to see the extei
of this suffering and struggle. II
rightly called a tragedy. 1t Is l
mere vulgar melodrama OF sensation
accident. II is the inevitable cons
1nence OF character. Those man
itaits that make actions strong in
isnee impel men alec TO face danger
she support OF their families and
khe extension and development Of
dustry and trade. For hundr
wears the Massachusetts fisheries II
nished the American navy with sor
Of It's sturdiest seamSn, and from I
dangerous occupations all over {